Saturday, September 29, 2012

We have all heard the studies
that suggest over-confident people are generally less competent than those who
tend to be more modest (and less confident) in their evaluation of their
abilities (Dunning Kruger effect).

As someone who is reminded on
a daily basis from co-workers, bosses etc who know me personally that I “need
to exhibit more confidence and pride” I’ve always wondered, what exactly are
those specific qualities that over-confident people exude? What kinds of
behaviors and actions do these individuals display that give them an edge? Yes,
according to the article, over-confident people are socially rewarded for
simply being over-confident. This is not
to suggest that problems do not arise from our human tendency to elect the
over-confident (possibly less competent) individual over the less-popular
(likely more competent) individual.

It appears that
over-confident individuals tend to exhibit the following:

“…videos revealed that
overconfident individuals spoke more often, spoke with a confident vocal tone,
provided more information and answers, and acted calmly and relaxed as they
worked with their peers. In fact,
overconfident individuals were more convincing in their displays of ability
than individuals who were actually highly competent.”

I
guess this means we should never allow someone’s convincing display or
“presentation” (smooth talk free of glitches and a “calm relaxed” way of
handling oneself) trick us into thinking that they are automatically more
capable or qualified (according to the studies, they are usually LESS
competent).

One more fact discovered: Surprisingly,
overconfident people were the most socially admired; these individuals were NOT
thought of as narcissistic but instead, “beloved”.